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Recruit/Story
Recruit i am a recruit, and i am going to do what it takes By Miststream Chapter One “Fight!” The massive tabby tom snarled at me. We circled each other warily. His hackles raised as he stared straight into my gaze. I knew he would be unsuspecting. I rammed straight into him without a moment’s thought. The cat collapsed, shrieking, as I raked my claws against his belly. He flipped over in the struggle and faced me again, leaping into me, snapping jaws heading straight for my throat. I sidestepped just in time, and his scrabbling claws caught deep into my leg instead. Blood spattered onto the dusty ground, catching the light. I flattened myself to the ground as he tried to take the breath out of me by roughly dragging me by the scruff. With a screech, I pummeled my hind legs into him. He let go with a snarl, but came back for the kill. He is not stopping. Blood coursed through my veins, setting my heart in a racing fury. My vision turned red. This cat meant to kill. I yowled and flung my claws down his flank. Three deep channels ran down it. The tom screeched in agony and collapsed on the ground. With a final gasp, I slashed through his throat. Blood flowed thickly from it, and then stopped. The tom didn’t flinch. He was dead. “Freeze!” Three massive cats, soldiers of the Major, circled in on me. “Step away from the body,” one cat growled. I stepped back. One wrong move, and these cats would tear me apart. The largest cat by far stepped forward. Scars crisscrossed on his flank, his face a huge wound. Muscles rippled underneath his fur, and his stride spilled with authority. “Stop.” He faced me. “Eradico, you are accepted within the Majors. Good luck to you.” The speaking cat retreated and the officials stepped back. I looked around at all of the cats. They were all large, well-built figures, with wounds showing of many a battle and muscles packed under the bodies. So these were the Majors. The Major was the leading force of the Twolegplace. Their power extended over all of the Twolegplace, and controlled all of the cats within. Every rogue, loner, and kittypet feared the presence of a Major soldier, for if they were doing anything other than the Commander’s bidding, they were either put to death or given a punishment...which was usually never pleasant. My family had been targeted by all of the top lieutenants of the Majors, for we held a great history – my father had began the Central Force, which opposed the Majors and all of its foul regulation and actions. He recruited many of the bravest, strong willed and minded cats to oppose the evil and bring justice to the Twolegplace. The Central Force had grown and swelled in number, and though they laid low, every cat knew about its presence just as much as the Majors. The Commander of the Major sought out every cat associated with the Central Force and put them to death – if any Force soldiers were caught, there was no chance of escape. My father, the Force leader, and my mother urged my only brother and sister to join forces with the Majors, since they were still unknown to the Commander. If it came to knowledge to the Major that the leader of the Central Force had kits, they would be the main targets. My brother, Shard, proved his worth by working hard among the Majors. He was raised to Head lieutenant, and my sister, Sky, was the lead Offensive range. And then I was born. Just when my mother and father thought Shard and Sky were safe, I came and they were ceaselessly shifting homes, moving around, trying to keep me alive and well until I was of age to trial for the Testing ceremony. That day is today. I was now part of the Majors. Chapter Two I retired to the Recruit den, a place for the newest members still in training for combat and the ways of the Major. My mother and father were somewhere out there. My mother would be the lead Trainer of the Central Force, teaching cats to fight with mercy, to never kill unless necessary. My father would lead the Force, looking upon the cats, making sure they were all well, and overlooking the progress of the Major’s power. For all I knew, they were alive no longer, dead under a Major’s bloody claws. If only I knew where Sky and Shard were. We would never interact in our days, because Recruits were of the lowest rank and were looked down upon. A Head lieutenant would be among the senior soldiers, talking with the Commander himself. Sky was at a prestigious position, and as lead Offensive range commanded the Offensive troops on the attacks, and was even more important than Defensive range. And Sky and Shard were not even aware of my existence. My father could not give word to them within the Major without alerting the Commander too. If I did meet them, I would not know what they looked like without names. And how would I find them in the hundreds of cats who were in arms with the Majors? My body writhing with tension, I closed my eyes and fell into an uneasy, unsettled sleep. Morning light filtered through the woven stems of the den. Many cats were stirring beside me in the Recruit den, ready for another session of training. Who is my mentor? I wondered curiously. I wanted to know who I would be learning under. Peeking out of the den, I looked at the central clearing. The Majors headquarters resided in a huge crater into the ground, with soaring sandstone walls. Slopes ran around the walls for access higher on the wall. Gaps in the walls opened into small meeting rooms and dens. Many hundreds of gaps littered the wall like a beehive. Hundreds of cats were already crowded into the central clearing, but with these numbers the floor space still looked sparse. There were many, many more cats in the Major. “Ah, Recruits,” a voice sounded behind me. It was loud and harsh. A she-cat stood tall beside me, her thick gray and white fur ruffled a bit. “Get yourselves out and ready.” Quickly the cats shuffled out. There were forty or so recruits, all as small as me and looking scared and nervous. “I am Ephixa,” the cat hissed quietly. “I am a second-Stance Corporal. Should any of you show disrespect toward me in any way, you will hear of it. I expect all of you to show up on time to training sessions and practice on your own time. For after all, on the tenth moon of your Recruit training, we will hold a gathering and you will be placed to the appropriate combat rank.” I gulped. If I didn’t work hard enough, I felt as if my secrets would be spilled. I needed to work enough to make up for my roots. Ephixa shot a glance at me suddenly, her eyes narrowed. “You must be Eradico, our new Recruit. You have joined within a moon of our training sessions’ beginning, so you will be expected to make it up on your own time.” I nodded quickly. Ephixa looked around once more, and then continued, “I shall take my leave and speak with the overlooks. In the meantime, you can stay here and practice.” I looked around in the silence. None of the other Recruits were speaking or moving, just standing there nervously. I couldn’t even do as much – my heart was pounding. When would I be found out? By the time Ephixa returned, all of the cats were dutifully paired into groups of two. I, being stuck in my thoughts, hadn't notice and now I stood in the center, alone and looking dumb. "Rock, what are you doing?" Ephixa barked at a deep gray, seemingly oversized tom who looked as lost as me. "You kit. Go join Eradico and stop standing there like a gluttonous creature." "Yes, Corporal Ephixa." The large cat stared at his toes and walked over to me, plopping down with a whoof and a sigh. "Oh, and for our new Recruit, Eradico." Ephixa turned to me and snickered slightly, revealing a glint of yellow teeth in the glaring sunlight. "Rock will have to teach you the Prime attack move. But in all honesty," - the Corporal turned to face the rest of the group - "I trust you will not let me down." Letting out a laugh, Ephixa walked away. The clearing was silent for a little bit, but soon it was bursting with caterwauls and clamor. Cats next to me were dashing and landing on one specific spot on their opponent each time - which I guessed was their unique "Prime" spot. Then the first glint of red caught my eyes. I was shocked at first, but then I realized - Ephixa taught her Recruits to fight with claws and teeth. "Eradico - " "Okay, I'm ready!" I yelped at Rock before he could surpise-attack and leap on me and tear me apart. "No," Rock hissed quietly. "Did Ephixa show you around camp or how it works yet?" I stopped and stared. "Uh...no." Rock nodded knowingly. "That's because on our first day here each one of us Recruits shadow a junior Corporal who teaches us our way around, as well as ranking and everything. Not that they're kind about it, we learn most of it ourselves," Rock added with a chuckle. "And do you know what the Summer Tree is?" "No," was all I could say. What else could I tell him? I was dumbfounded to find some cat who was being civil towards me, albeit talking about things I had no idea of. "Come on." Chapter Three "Won't Ephixa spot us?" I worried. Typical me, always ruining everything with my prissy attitude. "No, she's off wishing she had some rank in a Range or flirting with higher ranks." Rock laughed. "Did you know she tried to sweet-talk a Lieutenant last moon?" "Really?" I asked, amused. "For what?" "A promotion, for a spot as 'Helper' of the Master Corporal," Rock mewed. "Have you heard of such a thing? She tried to make a brand-new spot for herself. What a weirdo." We were heading out of camp boundaries now. My heart pounded. "What happened after?" "Oh, she just got a scolding from the head of the Second Stance." Rock leaped over a floating log and reached a gigantic tree in a large, meadowed space. Golden sunlight filtered through the branches and onto the ground. I stared at it in awe. "This is the Summer Tree? It's beautiful!" "Yep." Rock settled down in a crook in the roots of the tree. "Anyways, do you know about the rankings?" "No," I mewed. "I don't know anything at all. Could you explain?" "Well then, I'll start from Recruits." Rock scooted over to make room for me. "A Recruit is the lowest rank in the Major. It's made up of newbies from all over Twolegplace whose parents wanted them to have a chance and not get gobbled up by Major soldiers when living alone in the streets." Rock paused. "My own parents sent me here last year, but..." He seemed to choke for a bit. "Anyways." I made a mental note to ask him about it later. "Go on." "At the end of each Recruiting year, the Recruits have a final test, where if they pass, they'll get promoted. Recruits are automatically sent into various spots in the Corporal if they pass, where they'll stay for the rest of their days. Everyone in the Corporal is average, not too shabby but not the most skilled either. There's the Master Corporal, who leads all the Corporals. "If you're doing particularly excellent at your job, you'll get moved up to a Range. Rangers are split into two parts - Offensive and Defensive. Essentially they're both one, but the Offensive takes out lurkers and rule-strayers and the Defensive patrols boundaries. There's the lead Offensive and lead Defensive." "Hold up," I mewed. "Is this 'lead Offensive' Ranger's name by any chance...Sky?" Rock looked surprised. "Why, yes, she is. How'd you know, I thought you were new?" "Yeah, I just guessed. Keep talking." Rock gave me a weird look and continued. "The best of the best, higher than the Rangers, are the Lieutenants. There's only eight right now. They get to talk about battles and boundaries and everything with the Commander himself. There's the head Lieutenant for them too. And there's the Commander and the Healer." I could guess who the head Lieutenant was, but I decided not to speak. "That's...a lot." Rock laughed. "Heck yeah it is." "Why is everyone in the Major so mean? My father--" I bit my tongue when I realized I wasn't supposed to say it. "I don't know. Most of them were raised like that," Rock explained. "You seem pretty nice." "Really? Why thank you." Rock grinned. "Anyhoo, we'd better be getting back to camp. I hope Ephixa didn't notice us being gone until sunhigh." I laughed. "Yeah, I hope." And we walked back on the sandy path leading to the camp, leaving behind the sunlit tree. Chapter Four "Recruits!" snarled a voice as we attempted to sneak back into the Major camp. Rock slowly stiffened and turned around in slow motion. "Y-yes, E-Ephixa?" "Where do you think you two were, while we were training?" Ephixa drawled quietly, her expression smug. "N-nowhere, Corporal Ephixa." "WHERE?" Rock almost squealed in fright. "T-the Summer Tree, Ephixa. It was all my fault. Not Eradico's, Ephixa, it was my choice to go there." "It seems you aren't being a...supposedly good influence on our young new Recruit." Ephixa wove around Rock and I, while the rest of the assembly stood staring. It was likely Ephixa would punish us, and her punishments seemed most often not fortunate. "No, Ephixa." "Rock seems truly sorry. It's only Eradico here who is cowardly and keeping quiet," Ephixa snarled quietly. "Isn't that right, my little Recruit? Maybe it's time you've learned a lesson, so maybe you'll learn your way around the Major from now onwards, eh?" She turned. "Acorn, escort Eradico to the Sinking Hole for the time being, until he's learned his lesson." A chestnut-furred she-cat stood mortified by the task at hand and squeaked, barely able to stutter a sound, and looked on with frightful eyes. "What're you waiting for, cat? Get on with it -- " "No." Ephixa turned around and it was her turn to be petrified to the spot. A beautiful white she-cat with sky-blue eyes stood behind Ephixa, tall and strong, with a stern gaze set on her face. She looked like she had seen many battles and though was young, also had an aura of authority. "How could you treat the newest young cat to the group like this?" the newcomer hissed. "This is felony. I will not allow you to send Recruit Eradico to the Sinking Hole." I had always thought of Ephixa as someone to hate me, but I never realized how far that hate truly went. Now I stared at the new cat, grateful but a little daunted. "Y-yes, Ranger Sky," Ephixa stuttered, and backed away, almost tripping over a crevice in the stone ground. Sky looked around a last time, gave me a tiny nod, and was off. "Sky?" I gulped. My sister. "Very well, Eradico." Ephixa glared at me, a childlike hatred in them. "You shan't be sent to the Sinking Hole. But should you ever break my laws again -- " "Yes, Ephixa," Rock and I mewed in unison, a little on the scared side. I narrowed my eyes at Rock, then sighed. It wasn't his fault we'd been caught. Following the other Recruits, I retired to my den for the midday meal. Today had been a long day. "Welcome to the Major midday meals," Rock meowed. "A civil war between the cats over who gets the juiciest starling." I could see the clearing already at a turmoil, cats shoving their way for a good pick from the fresh-kill pile. Cats emerged dusty and worn, with a meager crows hanging from their jaws. "Seems competetive," I mumured in amusement. "Oh, don't laugh," Rock warned. I could see he was being serious. "Meals at the Major are a life and death situation. Now watch me carefully, and then you'll be doing this yourself." Rock slid into the edge of the chaos, then watched until a skinny gap showed through. Then, using his smaller size, he slipped under the paws of the large, muscled Majors and approached the gigantic mound of food. I paced around the crowd, trying to catch a glimpse of him, make sure he was still alive, but I couldn't see him. My senses filled with dread. "Hungry?" Rock had emerged and was shaking out his now dirty fur, and tossed me an okay-looking vole. "Wow, how did you do that?" I asked, impressed, while biting into my food. "Skills, my friend," Rock replied. Then he sighed. "That was a close call back there. Ephixa does things so dastardly and sinister to us, even the Commander couldn't pull off something like it." My eyes widened. "Rock. What's the Sinking Hole?" Rock looked sick. "In short...it's where the bad cats go. Not the bad cats, neccessarily -- the cats who did the right thing by defying the Major. Every cat sent there, in the end...well, they die." I flinched at his bluntness. "And I was almost sent there? For skipping a training lesson?" What kind of community ''is this?'' "No, Ephixa has a personal hatred for you. She would probably have released you in a day or so anyway, just so you would get a taste." "Great," I sighed. "One more cat to hate me." "Don't worry," Rock mewed cheerfully. "Look on the bright side -- she'll get over you. She tormented me the same when I was new, but then she found other cats to harrass and eventually left me alone. In the end, all will be great." His eyes darkened. "But after promotions, make sure you get a higher place than her in the Corporals. Or else you will be condemned to torture for life." I laughed. "Rock." "You eating that?" He gestured to my half-devoured piece of prey. "Because I'm starving." I shook my head and pushed it to him. My mind kept going back to Sky. She seemed so regal and beautiful, so high up there, but I knew from my father's stories and history that she was in fact my sister. How could I ever get close to her, and make her realize she had not one, but two siblings in the Major? Our paths would never cross at best, and this was probably the only time I'd ever get to see her unless I was promoted, which would have to be after a year or so. But I was still grateful, because at least I knew what my own sister was like now. I was scared as what she might see me as. Another sibling? Or an enemy? Would she blurt me out to the Major? But that wouldn't make sense. How can she give me away without giving herself away? Sighing, I rested my chin on my paws. "Take it easy for now, Eradico," Rock mewed, in his usual happy self. "I'll show you around during break. That is, if we can avoid getting stepped on by Ephixa." "Is Acorn new?" I wondered, remembering the scared look on the she-cat's face. Rock looked thoughtful. "Why yes, relatively new. She came about a half-moon before you did." "Oh." She seemed different from a cat like Rock, yet still someone I could rely on, always being picked on by the cats of the Major. I realized I wanted to know who she was. I wanted to know who everyone was. I don't understand this Major system. At all. Category:Mist's Fanfictions